The NFL season is long. There are bound to be lackluster performances, especially against inferior opponents.

The Buffalo Bills played down to the competition, at least for a half. And it didn't cost them.

The Bills fell behind 14-0 but ended up scoring the next 24 points of the game to take control of their game against the New England Patriots. The Bills won 24-21 to keep their slim hopes for the No. 1 seed alive.

It was a flat performance against a bad team, but it left the Bills with some things to clean up moving forward.

Patriots take an early lead

The Bills did not start well. The defense was giving up long drives to the Patriots and they found themselves trailing 14-0 to a big underdog.

At halftime the Patriots had 239 yards, with 159 through the air and 80 rushing. They had 17 first downs. For a Bills defense that gave up 44 points to the Los Angeles Rams two weeks ago in a loss and 42 points to the Detroit Lions in a win last week, it was another poor sign late in the season.

The Bills eventually got it together to get the lead back. James. Cook scored twice, once on a 46-yard run and the other on a 4-yard touchdown catch from Josh Allen. A field goal in the third quarter put the Bills ahead 17-14.

The defense didn't play well in the first half, and Allen wasn't his normal MVP-level self either. Allen was seen shaking his right hand in the second half after bracing himself as he was brought down, which is obviously something the Bills will have to monitor going forward.

The Bills were lucky that their off day was coming against the 3-11 Patriots.

Bills come back

Motivation might be a challenge for the Bills the last few weeks. They are technically still alive for the No. 1 seed in the AFC but they'd need the 14-1 Kansas City Chiefs to lose out to have any chance. The Bills have wrapped up the AFC East. They are likely to get the No. 2 seed if they don't catch the Chiefs. There's not much to play for other than the outside chance of getting the No. 1 seed.

The Bills still did enough to win. The Patriots were still in it when they had a horrendous turnover. Backed up near their own end zone, Drake Maye threw a backwards lateral to Rhamondre Stevenson, which bounced off the running back's hands. The ball was live and cornerback Taron Johnson fell on it for the touchdown. That gave the Bills a 24-14 lead and even though New England had a good first half of offensive football, the Patriots aren't built to come back from 10 points down at Buffalo.

The Patriots scored late but that just made the final score closer. The Bills recovered an onside kick after that and chewed up the rest of the clock with a first down quarterback sneak by Allen.

The Bills will be better when the playoffs start. They were coming off a big win over the Lions last week and due for a letdown. But there are some things for coach Sean McDermott to get on his team about.